[Spontaneous drainage of a pancreatic abscess into the digestive tract]

Pancreatic abscess is a serious complication of acute pancreatitis and the best treatment is surgical drainage, even when morbidity and mortality are high. We present a patient with a pancreatic abscess after cholecystectomy and bile duct drainage because of cholelithiasis and pancreatitis. The abscess was manifested by a palpable painful mass in the epigastrium, fever, leukocytosis, and confirmed by ultrasound. Through a nasogastric tube we drained necrotic and purulent material with gradual and complete recovery. This is the first case in our hospital in which a pancreatic abscess drained spontaneously into the digestive tract without requiring external drainage.